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Teacher suspended over relationship with 12-year-old girl

Bridie Jabour

A Queensland teacher has had his registration suspended for three months after having an "inappropriate relationship" with a 12-year-old student, with whom he engaged on Facebook and who confided in him that she thought she was pregnant.

Scott James Chambers admitted he had engaged in an unprofessional and overly familiar relationship with a 12-year-old girl, who had just finished year 7, between December 2010 and January 2011.

A Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal judgment said Mr Chambers, who had been teaching for eight years, admitted to the Queensland College of Teachers that he and the student had written "deeply personal messages" to each other on Facebook.

The student wrote she had experienced sexual abuse at the hands of a cousin and feared she might be pregnant, and Mr Chambers wrote about how close he felt to her and his worries about losing his job if their Facebook exchanges were discovered.

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The pair arranged to meet during the summer holidays, and Mr Chambers picked up the student in his car and took her to his house where he hugged her and gave her a pregnancy testing kit.

In the QCAT judgment, handed down by acting senior member of the tribunal Michelle Howard and members Pam Goodman and Robyn Oliver, Chambers was found to have failed in his role as a teacher by engaging in an unprofessional relationship with the student and not reporting suspected harm or abuse of a student.

Mr Chambers lost his teaching job at the school — which is not allowed to be identified — in August last year and has not worked as a teacher since.

"The relationship between Mr Chambers and the former student was overly familiar and was conducted in a manner intended to deceive her family," the judgment said.

"The tribunal is satisfied that Mr Chambers is not suitable to teach and that therefore there are grounds for disciplinary action."

The Queensland College of Teachers submitted that Mr Chambers' teaching registration be cancelled and he be banned from re-applying for registration for two years, but QCAT ruled this was too harsh and cancelled his registration while allowing him to reapply in December.

If he reapplies for registration, Mr Chambers must submit a psychological report that addresses a lengthy list of issues including confirmation that he can differentiate between personal and professional relationships.

The judgment said the tribunal did not believe Mr Chambers had sought to "gain personally" from the relationship, and in his own misguided way he had thought he was helping the student through a traumatic situation.

"The tribunal considers that it is relevant that the actions taken by Mr Chambers did not occur on the spur of the moment," the judgment said.

"They occurred over the duration of the school holidays, a period when he had time to reflect upon his actions.

"This suggests either a lack of insight into the inappropriate nature of the interactions and his reporting obligations, or a disregard for his obligations."

QCAT also cited other cases in its decision to ban Mr Chambers from reapplying for three months, saying another teacher with more experience than Mr Chambers had been banned from reapplying for 12 months after having an inappropriate texting relationship with a student.

That relationship was longer than Mr Chambers' and the teacher had not co-operated with the investigation, unlike Mr Chambers.